Rockford police united in desire for new handguns

Friday

Nov 23, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 23, 2007 at 11:16 PM

At a time when Rockford’s police union and its commanders disagree about virtually everything, one issue has brought them together. The department’s aging handguns, both sides agree, are badly worn and need to be replaced.

Corina Curry

At a time when Rockford’s police union and its commanders disagree about virtually everything, one issue has brought them together. The department’s aging handguns, both sides agree, are badly worn and need to be replaced.

Shell cases aren’t ejecting properly, causing the guns to jam. Springs and other parts are worn. And the guns were too bulky from the start, some officers complained.
Chief Chet Epperson’s administration wants to spend up to $200,000 to replace all 304 of the department-issued .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handguns, bought nine years ago.

It’s a dramatic shift for the department’s leaders, who just five years ago unsuccessfully fought to prevent city cops from buying alternate handguns at their own expense.

It also comes at the end of a grim year which has seen a record number of police shootings and in a city where officers are facing more criminals who are armed — at times better than the cops.

No common standard
Police experts across the country agree there is no standard for a handgun’s useful life or replacement schedule.

“How different departments do it is all over the board,” said David Wickster of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police. “There is no set time for when guns need to be replaced. Most departments determine that by wear.”

In Aurora, officers purchase their equipment from a city allowance. They must qualify on their guns four times a year and are responsible for the gun’s upkeep.

“We have to buy and carry a 9-mm. There’s no set brand,” said Wayne Biles, president of the Aurora police union. “We like our system better because different people like different guns. We like having a choice.”

The 13,000 men and women of the Chicago Police Department also buy their own guns. They get to choose from nine different models and have to qualify with the gun once a year. As in Aurora, individual officers are responsible for knowing when it’s time to buy a replacement.

Rockford uses a quartermaster system, providing officers with everything they need, from shoes to a gun. It’s up to the department to make sure the guns are operating properly and make the call when the weapons need to be replaced.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department and Illinois State Police use a similar system. The county’s weapon of choice is a Heckler and Koch USP .45, purchased about five years ago. Illinois troopers carry either the Glock 22 or 23, all two years old. Their previous guns were used for eight years. The previous model’s guns lasted 10 years.

Change ‘long overdue’
Ted Getty, a former Rockford police training and gun specialist, said all departments have to weigh the cost of new guns and the safety of officers and residents.

“It’s a big cost factor, but Rockford is at that decision point,” said Getty, now a trainer and firearms specialist for the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department. “Those guns have lasted a long time. They’re long overdue to be replaced.”

Department leaders agree. Deputy Chief Lori Sweeney and others have spent the past year researching, meeting with the department’s firearms trainers and bringing in new handguns for officers to try on the shooting range.

“We’ve had this Smith & Wesson for nine years now. It’s a safety issue and a cost issue,” Sweeney said. “After all those years, the gun can start to nickel-and-dime you. Annual maintenance and fixing wear and tear can cost more than replacements. Plus, you want to make sure that your officers have the best.”

Sweeney said a decision could be made by the beginning of 2008. Money for the purchase would have to be approved by City Council, perhaps in a budget amendment.

The price tag could come in around $130,000 if the department goes with another Smith & Wesson brand firearm or as high as $200,000 if the department opts to change brands.

Not willing to wait
Today, more than half the city’s officers carry .40-caliber Glocks, the only alternative handgun authorized to be carried by officers. They buy those weapons themselves. But the city would buy enough new model guns to provide for every officer on the force, even though many could choose to still carry Glocks.

A new Smith & Wesson M&P, a .40 caliber with a similar trigger action to the Glock, appears to be a leading favorite, Sweeney said. Staying with Smith & Wesson would save money, she said, because the company will buy back the department’s old weapons and give a bulk discount, putting the final cost closer to $130,000.

The department’s .40-caliber Smith & Wesson 4046s were purchased in 1998. The guns before that, .45-caliber Smith & Wesson 4506s, were bought in 1990 and replaced just a handful of months after an on-duty officer’s gun failed to fire during a confrontation with an armed suspect. The suspect, who refused to drop his weapon, was shot and killed by another officer. Neither officer was hurt, but the misfire sent a shock wave through the department.

Sweeney said no one is willing to wait for that to happen again.

“We haven’t had anything like that happen recently, at least not in the last three years since I’ve been in training,” she said. “But who wants to be the one who puts it off and then something like that does happen again?”

Shooting: A brutal business
The switch from a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson to the .40-caliber Smith & Wesson cost the city only $80,000, but it caused debate among officers because of the difference in trigger pressure between the two guns.

And while the .45-caliber weighed more than the .40, some officers felt the .40-caliber was too bulky and pushed for the alternate gun policy that eventually was approved in 2002. “It got to the point where officers were saying, ‘Can we just buy our own because this thing is like a boat anchor?’” Getty said.

Guns, in a sense, are like computers, cell phones, cars and other machines that get better, stronger and faster each year. And having the most reliable and best-functioning gun in the line of duty can be a matter of life or death.

“Shooting is a brutal business,” Wickster said. “In the state of Illinois, there is no such thing as shoot to wound. When you shoot toward a person, that’s deadly force. If the situation is proper and you have to (fire) your weapon, it’s important to know that the weapon will function as it should.”

Staff writer Corina Curry can be reached at 815-987-1395 or ccurry@rrstar.com.